IIL develops vaccine for blue tongue disease

The disease which causes viral illness in cattle and sheep had no known vaccine till date

Blue tongue virus has a high fatality rate of 30 percent

Singapore: Indian Immunologicals (IIL) have developed a new vaccine for Blue Tongue disease that affects domestic animals such as goats, sheep, cattle and camels. The disease is a vector borne viral illness of sheep and ruminants, caused by blue tongue virus.

The virus has a high fatality rate of 30 percent. India is among the top victims of this disease. The pentavalent vaccine Raksha-Blu has shown promise in protecting against all the five viral strains that cause the disease in India. IIL along with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research and Tamil Nadu University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences have taken part in the development of the vaccine.

IIL claimed that this was the first vaccine developed indigenously for the disease. The company said in a statement, "There are 24 viral strains of the virus prevalent in the world. In India, about five strains are predominant. Besides high level of mortality, it causes morbidity too. There has been no vaccine developed so far to protect the animals from the disease."